Method and system for an improved user group selection scheme with finite-rate channel state information feedback for FDD multiuser MIMO downlink transmission

ABSTRACT

A method for channel selection in a communication system includes receiving a broadcast signal comprising a beam vector, generating a first channel state information message based on the power of the broadcast signal, generating a second channel state information message based on the direction of the broadcast signal with respect to the beam vector, and transmitting a feedback signal comprising at least the first channel state information message and the second channel state information message. The communication system may include a frequency division duplex (FDD) multiuser communication system or a time division duplex (TDD) multiuser communication system. The first channel state information message may include a channel gain with respect to the broadcast signal. The second channel state information message may include a measure of orthogonality between the broadcast signal and the beam vector.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application makes reference to:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/232,340 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/231,501 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/231,699 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/231,586 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/232,369 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/231,701 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/232,362 filed Sep. 21, 2005;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/231,557 filed Sep. 21, 2005; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/231,416 filed Sep. 21, 2005.

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to processing of signals incommunication systems. More specifically, certain embodiments of theinvention relate to a method and system for an improved user groupselection scheme with finite-rate channel state information feedback forfrequency division duplex (FDD) multiuser multiple-input-multiple-output(MIMO) downlink transmission.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile communications have changed the way people communicate and mobilephones have been transformed from a luxury item to an essential part ofevery day life. The use of mobile phones is today dictated by socialsituations, rather than hampered by location or technology. While voiceconnections fulfill the basic need to communicate, and mobile voiceconnections continue to filter even further into the fabric of every daylife, the mobile Internet is the next step in the mobile communicationrevolution. The mobile Internet is poised to become a common source ofeveryday information, and easy, versatile mobile access to this datawill be taken for granted.

Third generation (3G) cellular networks have been specifically designedto fulfill these future demands of the mobile Internet. As theseservices grow in popularity and usage, factors such as cost efficientoptimization of network capacity and quality of service (QoS) willbecome even more essential to cellular operators than it is today. Thesefactors may be achieved with careful network planning and operation,improvements in transmission methods, and advances in receivertechniques. To this end, carriers need technologies that will allow themto increase downlink throughput and, in turn, offer advanced QoScapabilities and speeds that rival those delivered by cable modem and/orDSL service providers.

In order to meet these demands, communication systems using multipleantennas at both the transmitter and the receiver have recently receivedincreased attention due to their promise of providing significantcapacity increase in a wireless fading environment. These multi-antennaconfigurations, also known as smart antenna techniques, may be utilizedto mitigate the negative effects of multipath and/or signal interferenceon signal reception. It is anticipated that smart antenna techniques maybe increasingly utilized both in connection with the deployment of basestation infrastructure and mobile subscriber units in cellular systemsto address the increasing capacity demands being placed on thosesystems. These demands arise, in part, from a shift underway fromcurrent voice-based services to next-generation wireless multimediaservices that provide voice, video, and data communication.

The utilization of multiple transmit and/or receive antennas is designedto introduce a diversity gain and to raise the degrees of freedom tosuppress interference generated within the signal reception process.Diversity gains improve system performance by increasing receivedsignal-to-noise ratio and stabilizing the transmission link. On theother hand, more degrees of freedom allow multiple simultaneoustransmissions by providing more robustness against signal interference,and/or by permitting greater frequency reuse for higher capacity. Incommunication systems that incorporate multi-antenna receivers, a set ofM receive antennas may be utilized to null the effect of (M−1)interferers, for example. Accordingly, N signals may be simultaneouslytransmitted in the same bandwidth using N transmit antennas, with thetransmitted signal then being separated into N respective signals by wayof a set of N antennas deployed at the receiver. Systems that utilizemultiple transmit and receive antennas may be referred to asmultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. One attractive aspect ofmulti-antenna systems, in particular MIMO systems, is the significantincrease in system capacity that may be achieved by utilizing thesetransmission configurations. For a fixed overall transmitted power, thecapacity offered by a MIMO configuration may scale with the increasedsignal-to-noise ratio (SNR). For example, in the case of fadingmultipath channels, a MIMO configuration may increase system capacity bynearly M additional bits/cycle for each 3-dB increase in SNR.

The widespread deployment of multi-antenna systems in wirelesscommunications has been limited by the increased cost that results fromincreased size, complexity, and power consumption. This poses problemsfor wireless system designs and applications. As a result, some initialwork on multiple antenna systems may be focused on systems that supportsingle user point-to-point links. However, the use of multi-antennatechniques for a multiuser environment to improve total throughputremains a challenge.

Communication systems using multiple antennas at both the transmitterand the receiver have recently received increased attention due to theirpromise of providing significant capacity increase in a wireless fadingenvironment. However, most of the initial work on multiple antennasystems was focused on systems that support single user point-to-pointlinks. More recently, various efforts have focused on utilizingmulti-antenna techniques to a multiuser environment to improve totalthroughput.

The performance of conventional multiple antenna systems may depend onthe availability of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter(CSIT) and at the receiver (CSIR). During design and analysis stage,most of the conventional multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)communication systems may utilize an assumption that CSIT is complete orthat there is no CSIT information available. However, in most instances,such assumptions may be impractical as only quantized CSI may beavailable at the transmitter. Communication systems with multiple users,such as a CDMA-based communication system or communication systemswithin a wireless LAN environment, may utilize user group selectionalgorithms and CSI feedback to achieve array gain and transmitdiversity. Furthermore, multiuser diversity of the downlink channel mayalso be achieved by using CSI information, which may be available at thetransmitter. However, most conventional user group selection algorithms,such as the optimal brute-force user group selection algorithm, mayutilize complex computations to determine the CSI and may requirefeedback of the entire CSI from the receiving stations to thetransmitting base station. Such computation complexity and full CSIfeedback may increase implementation costs and reduce processing timeand overall efficiency of the communication system.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for an improved user group selectionscheme with finite-rate channel state information feedback for frequencydivision duplex (FDD) multiuser multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)downlink transmission, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating exemplary signal transmission frombase station to receivers within a finite-rate feedback multiusercommunication environment, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 1B is a top-level block diagram illustrating an exemplary multiusermultiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) downlink transmission system withfinite-rate channel state information feedback, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a high level flow diagram illustrating exemplary steps forimproved user group selection with finite-rate channel state informationfeedback, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary steps for improved usergroup selection with finite-rate channel state information feedback, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph that illustrates exemplary downlink transmissionschemes in terms of sum rate, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph that illustrates exemplary downlink transmissionschemes in terms of bit error rate, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor an improved user group selection scheme with finite-rate channelstate information feedback for frequency division duplex (FDD) multiusermultiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) downlink transmission. Aspects ofthe method may comprise selecting, from a plurality of users in afrequency division duplex (FDD) multiuser communication system, a firstuser having a channel gain that is greater than a feedback channel gaincorresponding to a remaining portion of the plurality of users. A seconduser may be selected from the remaining portion of the plurality ofusers, based on a feedback channel gain of the second user and feedbackorthogonality of the second signal with respect to the first signal. Theselected second user may have a channel gain that is greater than afeedback channel gain corresponding to the remaining portion of theplurality of users. In this regard, an improved user group selectionscheme in accordance with an embodiment of the invention maysignificantly reduce the computational complexity and the total amountof CSI feedback information communicated from a receiver station to abase station transmitter. As used herein, the term “user” may beinterpreted to refer to a mobile device.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary signal transmission frombase station to receivers within a finite-rate feedback multiusercommunication environment, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 1A, there is shown a communication system100 a comprising a base station 102 a, a first user (user 1) 104 a, anda second user (user 2) 106 a. The base station 102 a may compriseantennas 116 a, . . . , 122 a. The first user 104 a and the second user106 a may each have a single antenna. In this instance, the base station102 a may transmit signals 112 a and 114 a, which are intended to bereceived by the first user 104 a and by the second user 106 a,respectively.

After the first user 104 a and the second user 106 a process signals 112a and 114 a, respectively, the first user 104 a and the second user 106a may communicate quantized channel state information ĥ₁ 108 a and ĥ₂110 a. The quantized channel state information ĥ₁ 108 a and ĥ₂ 110 a maycomprise channel gain information and channel direction information forthe first user 104 a and the second user 106 a, respectively. The basestation 102 a may utilize the received quantized channel stateinformation ĥ₁ 108 a and ĥ₂ 110 a to precode transmit information forthe first user 104 a and the second user 106 a. In one embodiment of theinvention, the first user 104 a and the second user 106 a maycommunicate limited or finite-rate channel state information 108 a and110 a to the base station 102 a via the rate constraint feedback linkbetween the base station 102 a and the users 104 a and 106 a, in orderto maximize throughput and increase processing speed and efficiency.

In another embodiment of the invention, the base station 102 a may beequipped with M antennas and there may be K users within thecommunication system 100 a, where each user may comprise a singleantenna. In such circumstances, the signal model may be expressed as

$\begin{matrix}{{\begin{bmatrix}y_{1} \\y_{2} \\\vdots \\y_{k}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}h_{1} \\h_{2} \\\vdots \\h_{k}\end{bmatrix}x} + n}},} & (1)\end{matrix}$where y_(k) (k=1, . . . , K) may be the signal received by user k,h_(k)ε□^(1×M) may be the channel vector to user k, xε□^(M×1) may be thetransmitted symbol vector by the base station 102 a, and nε□^(K×1) maybe the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) with zero mean and unitvariance. The transmitted symbols may satisfy certain power constraint,for example, where E[x^(H)x]≦P, where (□)^(H) may represent complexconjugate transpose.

In this exemplary analysis, each element in h_(k) may be a zero-meancircularly symmetric complex Gaussian (ZMCSCG) random variable with unitvariance. Moreover, the users may experience independent fading and,therefore, the channel vectors {h_(k)}_(k=1) ^(K) may be statisticallyindependent from each other. The channel state information (CSI), h_(k),may be known to user k, but may not be known to other users. The basestation 102 a may have knowledge of the CSI for all users. In oneembodiment of the invention, the communication system 100 a may be afrequency division duplex (FDD) communication system. In this regard,the base station 102 a may obtain CSI 108 a and 110 a from the firstuser 104 a and the second user 106 a through a rate constraint feedbacklink.

Employing multiple antennas at the base station in cellular multiusercommunication systems may improve the downlink system capacity. Thisapproach may be utilized with any multiuser MIMO system, such as codedivision multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), andWireless LAN (WLAN), for example. The capacity improvement may beattained by communicating simultaneously to multiple users throughprecoding at the transmitter or base station when channel stateinformation is available. In this regard, a transmitter or base stationmay refer to any device or equipment which may be adapted to communicatewith multiple other devices, users, and/or receivers. Moreover, a useror a receiver may refer to user equipment or device that may be adaptedfor communication with a base station and/or other devices. Dirty papercoding (DPC) may be utilized as a precoding scheme that may achieve thesum capacity. However, DPC may be difficult to implement due tocomplexity issues. There may also exist other suboptimal but relativelylow complexity schemes for multiuser MIMO downlink, such as linearprecoding, Tomlinson-Harashima precoding, and vector encoding, forexample.

A zero-forcing (ZF) linear precoder may achieve the sum capacity whencombined with infinite-order multiuser diversity, that is, when thenumber of users K approaches infinity. Moreover, ZF precoders mayprovide near-optimal performance even with a limited number of users,when K=10 for example.

The zero-forcing precoders may be a specific type of linear precoders.When the base station, for example the base station 102 a in FIG. 1A,decides to transmit to a group of users D⊂{1, . . . , K} with d=|D|≦K, alinear precoding scheme may linearly weigh the data symbols s=[s₁, . . ., s_(d)]^(T) before they are transmitted from the base station,x=FP _(s)  (2)where x is the transmitted signal vector as in equation (1), F=[f₁, . .. , f_(d)] may be the M×d linear precoding matrix with normalizedcolumns (∥f_(k)∥=1), and P=diag{P₁, . . . , P_(d)} with Σ_(i=1)^(d)P_(i)≦P may be the power control matrix that may be adapted toallocate transmit power to different users. The received signal may begiven by equation

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{bmatrix}y_{1} \\y_{2} \\\vdots \\y_{d}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}h_{1} \\h_{2} \\\vdots \\h_{d}\end{bmatrix}{FPs}} + {n.}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

A zero-forcing precoder may use the pseudo-inverse of the overallchannel matrix H_(D)=[h₁ ^(T), . . . , h_(d) ^(T)]^(T) as the weightingmatrix when H_(D) has full row rank, i.e.

$\begin{matrix}{{W_{D} = {H_{D}^{\dagger} = {H_{D}^{H}\left( {H_{D}H_{D}^{H}} \right)}^{- 1}}},} & (4) \\{{F_{D} = {W_{D}\begin{bmatrix}\frac{1}{w_{1}} & \; & \; \\\; & \ddots & \; \\\; & \; & \frac{1}{w_{d}}\end{bmatrix}}},} & (5)\end{matrix}$where {w_(i)}_(i=1) ^(d) are the column of W_(D)

By defining

$\begin{matrix}{\xi_{i}\bullet\frac{1}{w_{i}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$and substituting equation (5) into equation (3), the received signal foreach user with zero-forcing precoding may be expressed as,y _(i)=ξ_(i) P _(i) s _(i) +n _(i) ,∀iεD.  (7)

In this regard, the multiuser downlink channel may become a set ofparallel channels. The maximum sum rate of the given user group D may begiven by the equation:

$\begin{matrix}{{C_{D} = {\sum\limits_{i \in D}{\log\left( {1 + {\xi_{i}P_{i}}} \right)}}},} & (8)\end{matrix}$where the optimal P_(i) may be given by the water-filling solution,

$\begin{matrix}{{P_{i} = \left( {\mu - \frac{1}{\xi_{i}}} \right)^{+}},} & (9)\end{matrix}$with the water level μchosen to satisfy

${\sum\limits_{i \in D}\left( {\mu - \frac{1}{\xi_{i}}} \right)^{+}} = {P.}$The maximum achievable sum rate for a given channel realization may beobtained by searching over all the possible user groups, that is,

$\begin{matrix}{C = {\max\limits_{{D \subseteq {\{{1,\ldots\mspace{14mu},K}\}}},\mspace{14mu}{{D} \leq M}}{C_{D}.}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$

An optimal or best user group selection for ZF precoding may requiresearching over a plurality of Σ_(i=1) ^(M)(_(i) ^(K)) candidate usergroups to find the one with the largest sum rate, which leads to afairly high computational cost. Moreover, in an FDD system such as thecommunication system 100 a, the channel state information that may beneeded at the transmitter 102 a to perform the optimal user group searchmay be obtained from the users 104 a and 106 a through a feedback link.Because the optimal search requires CSI from each user and each user'schannel is a complex vector of dimension M, that is equivalent to 2Mreal numbers per user, heavy burden may be placed on the feedback linkto obtain this information. This may be particularly cumbersome sincethe feedback link tends to have very limited capacity. A user groupselection scheme, such as the selection scheme described below inreference to FIG. 2B, may result in a simpler implementation and mayrequire less feedback information. In this regard, such improvedselection scheme may be utilized for finite-rate channel stateinformation feedback within multiuser communication systems withmultiple transmits antennas.

FIG. 1B is a top-level block diagram illustrating an exemplary multiusermultiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) downlink transmission system withfinite-rate channel state information feedback, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1B, there is shown acommunication system 100 b that may comprise a base station 102 b and aplurality of K users 150 b, . . . , 152 b. Within the communicationsystem 100 b, the base station 102 b may comprise M transmit (TX)antennas and each of the K users 150 b, . . . , 152 b may each have asingle receive (RX) antenna. In this implementation, the total number ofusers or receiver antennas may be equal or higher than the number ofbase station antennas, that is, K≧M.

The base station 102 a may comprise a plurality of channel encoders 104b, . . . , 106 b, a user scheduler 108 b, a plurality of modulators(MOD) 110 b, . . . , 112 b, a power control block 114 b, a beamformingor linear precoding block 116 b, a processor 107 b, and a memory 109 b.Each of the plurality of users 150 b, . . . , 152 b may each compriseone of a plurality of demodulators (DEM) 118 b, . . . , 119 b, one of aplurality of channel decoders 120 b, . . . , 121 b, one of a pluralityof channel estimators 122 b, . . . , 123 b, one of a plurality ofchannel quantizers 126 b, . . . , 127 b, and one of a plurality offeedback controllers 124 b, . . . , 125 b.

The channel encoders 104 b, . . . , 106 b may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to encode input binary datab₁, . . . , b_(k) for each of the K users in the communication system100 b. The beamforming or linear precoding block 116 b may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to processesthe user data symbols to separate signals intended for different userssuch that each user receives little or no interference from other users.With M antennas at the base station 102 b, the beamforming or linearprecoding block 116 b may separate at most M different signals, that is,the base station 102 b may transmit to at most M users at a time.Therefore, for each channel realization, the base station 102 b may needto select M or less than M users among all the K users to transmit.

The user scheduler 108 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be adapted to locate a best user group from the pluralityof users 150 b, . . . , 152 b that optimizes certain performancecriterion such as the sum throughput of the system, for example. In thisregard, the user scheduler 108 b may be adapted to perform the steps ofan improved user group selection algorithm, for example, to find thebest user group. The user scheduler 108 b may utilize knowledge of thechannel state information (CSI) provided by the users 150 b, . . . , 152b via the feedback path 142 b when determining the best user group. Theuser scheduler 108 b may be adapted to select a first user with thestrongest channel gain and a second user with the second strongestchannel gain. The user scheduler 108 b may be adapted to determine afirst maximum system capacity based on the first user and a secondmaximum system capacity based on the second user. The user scheduler 108b may also be adapted to select the highest of the first maximum systemcapacity and the second maximum system capacity as the maximum systemcapacity to be supported by the communication system 100 b. In thisregard, for a case when M=2, the user scheduler 108 b may select theuser group to comprise a pair of users associated with the maximumsystem capacity selected.

The modulators 110 b, . . . , 112 b may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to modulate the binary dataof each of the users selected by the user scheduler 108 b. In thisregard, the modulation operation on the binary data may result in aplurality of complex symbols u₁, . . . , u_(M), for example. The powercontrol block 114 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may be adapted to allocate different users with different powerlevels in accordance with their respective channel quality, for example,based on CSI received via the feedback path 142 b.

The user scheduler 108 b, the power control block 114 b, and/or thebeamforming or linear precoding block 116 b may require knowledge of thestate of the downlink channel. The processor 107 b may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to process informationand/or data associated with the generation of transmission signals atthe base station 102 b. The processor 107 b may also be adapted tocontrol at least a portion of the operations of the base station 102 b.The memory 109 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may be adapted to store data and/or control information that may beutilized in the operation of at least a portion of the base station 102b.

The demodulators 118 b, . . . , 119 b in the users 150 b, . . . , 152 bmay comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be adaptedto demodulate the signals received from the base station 102 b, forexample. The channel decoders 120 b, . . . , 121 b may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to decode thedemodulated signals from the demodulators 118 b, . . . , 119 b intoreceived binary bit streams b′₁, . . . , b′_(k), for example.

The channel estimators 122 b, . . . , 123 b may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to estimate channel stateinformation for one or more receive channels. The channel quantizers 126b, . . . , 127 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may be adapted to quantize channel state information estimated bythe channel estimators 122 b, . . . , 123 b. The feedback controllers124 b, . . . , 125 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may be adapted to generate channel state information output 138 b,. . . , 140 b for communication to the base station 102 b via thefeedback link 142 b.

In operation, input signals b₁, . . . , b_(k) may be encoded by thechannel encoders 104 b, . . . , 106 b. Based on the knowledge of thedownlink channel state information 138 b, . . . , 140 b received fromthe users 150 b, . . . , 152 b via the feedback link 142 b, the userscheduler 108 b may select a determined group of users to transmit so asto optimize certain performance criterion, such as the sum throughput ofthe communication system 100 b. The binary data of each selected usermay be modulated by the modulators 110 b, . . . , 112 b and may betransformed into complex symbols u₁, . . . , u_(M). The power controlblock 114 b may then allocate the total transmit power to differentusers according to their respective channel quality. The channel qualitymay be determined based on the downlink channel state information 138 b,. . . , 140 b received from the users 150 b, . . . , 152 b via thefeedback link 142 b. The linear precoder 116 b may then process the userdata symbols in such a way that each user 150 b, . . . , 152 b mayreceive its own signal and little or no interference from other users.After the signal is transmitted from the M base station TX antennas andafter it arrives at each of the users 150 b, . . . , 152 b, it may bedemodulated and decoded into received binary bit streams b′₁, . . . ,b′_(k).

In a frequency division duplex (FDD) system, such as the communicationsystem 100 b, the base station 102 b may obtain the downlink channelstate information 138 b, . . . , 140 b through a finite-rate feedbacklink 142 b from the users 150 b, . . . , 152 b. In one embodiment of theinvention, each user may estimate its own channel and may quantize thechannel according to the feedback rate constraint of the communicationsystem 100 b. In this regard, a selection algorithm may be utilized sothat the feedback controller 124 b, 125 b at each user may determine afinite-rate channel state information to feed back on the request of thebase station 102 b so as to optimize the user group selection by thebase station 102 b. The selection algorithm which is described belowwith respect to FIGS. 2A and/or 2B, may significantly reduce thecommunication system complexity as well as the total amount of requiredfeedback information, thereby effectively reducing the feedback rate.

FIG. 2A is a high level flow diagram illustrating exemplary steps forimproved user group selection with finite-rate channel state informationfeedback, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referringto FIGS. 1B and 2A, at 202 a, the base station 102 b may select a firstuser from a plurality of k users 150 b, . . . , 152 b, based onquantized channel gain information from all users. Each of the k users150 b, . . . , 152 b may measure its channel power γ_(k)=∥h_(k)∥² andmay supply the quantized channel power {circumflex over (γ)}_(i)|_(i=1)^(K) to the base station 102 b for selection of the first user. At 204a, after the first user is selected, a plurality of orthogonalityparameters for a remaining portion of the plurality of users may bedetermined. The plurality of orthogonality parameters may be determinedwith respect to quantized channel direction of the selected first user.At 206 a, a second user may be selected from the remaining portion ofthe plurality of users, based on channel gain information and thedetermined orthogonality parameters for the remaining portion of theplurality of users. At 208 a, the first and/or the second user may beselected for receiving MIMO signals, based on a system capacityfunction. A precoding matrix may then be calculated by the base station102 b, based on whether the first and/or the second user is selected toreceive signals within the communication system 100 b.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary steps for improved usergroup selection with finite-rate channel state information feedback, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIGS. 1Band 2B, a simplified user group selection scheme may be utilized in amultiuser downlink channel with quantized CSI feedback within thecommunication system 100 b. For simplicity, it may be assumed that M=2.Even though the algorithm is described with respect to M=2, the presentinvention may not be so limited and the algorithm described herein maybe applicable to other FDD communication systems with a different numberof transmit antennas. As demonstrated in FIG. 2B, the user groupselection algorithm may be combined with a CSI feedback scheme and maycomprise the following 10 steps.

It may be assumed that users have ideal CSIR in a sense that the MISOchannel impulse response h_(k)ε□^(1×2) (M=2) may be known at each user.At 202, each user may quantize its own channel gain, or channel powerγ_(k)=∥h_(k)∥² by a finite-rate scalar quantizer with quantizationresolution B_(g) bits per channel update using the channel quantizers126 b, . . . , 127 b. The quantized channel gain {circumflex over(γ)}_(k) or the equivalent quantization index may then be conveyed backto the base station 102 b through a rate constraint feedback link 142 b.The channel gain quantizers 126 b, 127 b may be optimized to match tothe precoder 116 b used at the transmitter 102 b, such as zero-forcingprecoder. One or more performance metric, such as capacity and bit errorrate, as well channel statistical distributions may also be utilized inorder to improve the system performance.

At 204, based upon the feedback information {circumflex over(γ)}_(k)|_(k=1) ^(K) the transmitter 102 b may select the user with thelamest channel gain based on the following expression

$\begin{matrix}{i = {\arg\;{\max\limits_{1 \leq k \leq K}{{\hat{\gamma}}_{k}.}}}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

Based on the selected index i, the base station may request a channeldirection feedback from the i^(th) user asking for the unit norm vectorv_(i) (v_(i)=h_(i)/∥h_(i)∥).

At 206, based on the request from the base station, the i^(th) user mayquantize its own channel direction by a vector quantizer with innerproduct quantization criterion. The direction vector v_(i) may bequantized into {circumflex over (v)}_(i) with quantization resolutionB_(v) bits per channel update. The quantized vector {circumflex over(v)}_(i) or the quantization index may be fed back to the base stationusing the same feedback link 142 b.

At 208, based on the feedback direction {circumflex over (v)}_(i), thebase station 102 b may form an orthonormal beam {circumflex over(v)}_(i) ^(⊥), which may be given by the equation{circumflex over (v)} _(i) ^(⊥) =[{circumflex over (v)} _(i,2)*,−{circumflex over (v)} _(i,1)*],  (12)where {circumflex over (v)}_(i,1) and {circumflex over (v)}_(i,2) may bethe first and second elements of vector {circumflex over (v)}_(i). Thebase station 102 b may then broadcasts the conjugate beam {circumflexover (v)}_(i) ^(⊥)* to all the users 150 b, . . . , 152 b.

At 210, each receiver may measure its own received signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) η_(k) with respect to the broadcast beam that the base station 102b sends out, which may be given by the equationη_(κ)=

h_(k) ,{circumflex over (v)} _(i) ^(⊥)

.  (13)

The inner product between the k^(th) user's channel directional vectorv^(k) and vector {circumflex over (v)}_(i) ^(⊥) may, therefore, be givenby the equation

$\begin{matrix}{{\alpha_{\kappa} = {\frac{{\left\langle {h_{k},{\hat{v}}_{i}^{\bot}} \right\rangle }^{2}}{{h_{\kappa}}^{2}} = \frac{\eta_{\kappa}}{\gamma_{\kappa}}}},} & (14)\end{matrix}$where α_(k) may be an orthogonal parameter of the k^(th) user and maycomprise a real number in the range [0, 1]. The value of α_(k) may beindicative of the orthogonality of the channel directions between user jand user k. For example, α_(k)=1 may correspond to the case that h_(k)and {circumflex over (v)}_(i) may be ideally orthogonal to each other.Each user may quantize the parameter α_(k) by using a scalarquantization function with quantization resolution B_(α) bits. Inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention, B_(α) may equal 1. Insuch instance, the quantized orthogonality parameter {circumflex over(α)}_(k) may be communicated as a 1-bit flag to the base station 102 b.Further determination of the second user may be achieved based on the1-bit flag. Such simplified user group selection algorithm is furtherdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/232,340, filed Sep. 21,2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

At 212, the base station 102 b may select the second user based on theorthogonality parameter feedback information {circumflex over (α)}_(k)received from the k users. The base station 102 b may select the seconduser by selecting the user with the largest projected channel power inan orthogonal direction {circumflex over (v)}_(i) ^(⊥). The second userj may be selected utilizing the following expression:

$\begin{matrix}{j = {\arg\;{\max\limits_{1 \leq k \leq K}\left( {{\hat{\gamma}}_{k} \cdot {\hat{\alpha}}_{k}} \right)}}} & (15)\end{matrix}$

In this regard, the base station 102 b may select the strongest user jamong a plurality of semi-orthogonal groups. The strongest second user jmay be identified as

$\underset{i = {1\rightarrow k}}{\max\left( {\hat{\gamma_{i}} \cdot \hat{\eta_{i}}} \right)}.$Based on the selected second user j, the base station 102 b may requestsa channel direction feedback from the j^(th) user. The j^(th) user maythen calculate a direction v_(j)(v_(j)=h_(j)/∥h_(j)∥) as a norm vector.

At 214, the j^(th) user may quantize its own channel direction, based ona request from the base station 102 b. The j^(th) user may quantize itsown channel direction v₁ by a vector quantizer with inner productquantization criterion. In this regard, the direction vector v₁ may bequantized into {circumflex over (v)}_(j) with quantization resolutionB_(v) bits per channel update. The quantized direction vector{circumflex over (v)}_(j) of the j^(th) user may be fed back to the basestation 102 b using the feedback link 142 b.

In this regard, the base station 102 b has obtained two candidate users,i and j, and may select between various transmission modes. In onetransmission mode, transmission to only the i^(th) user using full powermay occur. In another transmission mode, transmission to both user i anduser j may occur with power being equally allocated between both user iand user j. At 216, the system capacity for these transmission modes maybe calculated utilizing the following expressions:

$\begin{matrix}{{C(i)} \approx {\log_{2}\left( {1 + {\rho \cdot {\hat{\gamma}}_{i}}} \right)}} & (16) \\{{C\left( {i,j} \right)} \approx {{\log_{2}\left( {1 + {\frac{1}{2}{\rho \cdot {\hat{\gamma}}_{i} \cdot {\hat{\alpha}}_{j}}}} \right)} + {\log_{2}\left( {1 + {\frac{1}{2}{\rho \cdot {\hat{\gamma}}_{j} \cdot {\hat{\alpha}}_{j}}}} \right)}}} & (17)\end{matrix}$where ρ may be the system average SNR. The approximations “≈” may resultfrom the fact that both {circumflex over (γ)}_(i) and {circumflex over(γ)}_(j) are quantized, and the two users i and j may be assumed to beperfectly orthogonal. Based on the comparison between C(i,j) and C(j),transmission mode with higher system capacity may be selected by thebase station 102 b. In one embodiment of the invention, it may beassumed that the quantized channel direction {circumflex over (v)}_(j)of the second user j is orthogonal to the quantized channel direction{circumflex over (v)}_(i) of the first user i.

At 220, if C(i,j)>C(i), the transmission mode that utilizes spatialmultiplexing may be utilized to communicate to both users i and j at thesame time. The transmitter precoding matrix F may be formed by thefollowing equationF=[{circumflex over (v)} _(j) ^(⊥H) {circumflex over (v)} _(j)^(⊥H)]/√{square root over (2)}  (18)

At 218, if C(i,j)≦C(i), a transmission mode in which the base stationonly communicates to the i^(th) user may be utilized. In this case, theprecoding matrix may be selected according to the equationF={circumflex over (v)} _(i) ^(H)  (19)

Referring to FIGS. 1B and 2B, steps 202, 206, 210, and 214 may beachieved at the receiver side utilizing any of the users 150 b, . . . ,152 b, and steps 204, 208, 212, 216, 218, and 220 may be achieved at thetransmitter or base station 102 b side. The approach described hereinmay be extended to other more sophisticated precoders that may offerbetter system performance such as the minimum mean square error (MMSE)precoder, the Tomlinson-Harashima precoding (THP) precoder, and/or thesphere encoding precoder, for example. When the number of users K islarge enough, there may be a high probability that two users existhaving close to orthogonal channel vectors. In this instance, thezero-forcing precoder may be close to an optimal precoder and mostprecoding techniques may have similar system performance.

A comparison in terms of both search complexity and feedback loadbetween an optimal user group selection algorithm and the user groupselection algorithm described herein may be shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Optimal or Brute Force The Present Scheme User Group SelectionComplexity ≦2K_(a) $\geq {\frac{K^{2}}{2}b}$ Feedback Amount K□B_(g) +K□B_(α) + 2□B_(v) K□B_(g) + K□B_(v)

Complexity and Feedback Comparison

Table 1 provides a comparison between the optimal user group selectionalgorithm and the user group selection algorithm described herein interms of both search complexity and feedback load. The coefficient a mayrepresent the complexity of comparing two values, and b may representthe complexity of computing water-filling solution. In this regard,b>>a. The selection algorithm described herein may only require twosearches for the maximum value determination in step 202 and 212,respectively. The first search may be among K users, and the secondsearch may be among the rest (K−1) users. If a represents the complexityof comparing two positive real numbers, then the complexity of thechannel state information feedback scheme disclosed herein may be givenby the following expression:χ≦2Ka,  (20)as shown in Table 1. As for the optimal group search algorithm, for eachof the

${\begin{pmatrix}K \\1\end{pmatrix} + \begin{pmatrix}K \\2\end{pmatrix}} = \frac{K\left( {K + 1} \right)}{2}$possible groups, a water-filling solution may be calculated to obtainthe sum rate for each group. If b represents the complexity of computingwater-filling solution, the complexity of the optimal group selectionalgorithm may be represented by the expression:

$\begin{matrix}{\chi_{opt} \geq {\frac{K^{2}}{2}{b.}}} & (21)\end{matrix}$It may be noted that a<<b, andχ□χ_(opt).  (22)

The total amount of feedback of the channel state information feedbackscheme disclosed herein may be represented by the expression:B=K□B _(g) +K□B _(g) +K□B _(α)+2□B _(v) bits,  (23)whereas that of the optimal group selection algorithm may be representedby the expression:B _(opt) =K·B _(g) +K·B _(v) bits.  (24)Therefore the required amount feedback may be significantly reduced inthe new scheme described herein,B□B _(opt).  (25)

FIG. 3 is a graph that illustrates exemplary downlink transmissionschemes in terms of sum rate, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 3, there are shown the results of anumerical simulation corresponding to the sum rate of a cellular systemwith a single base station and K=100 users. The base station may beequipped with M=2 antennas, for example, and each user may be equippedwith a single antenna. The channels are flat fading Rayleigh channels.The transmit antennas at the base station may be spaced or located so asto experience independent fading. The modulation format applied in thisinstance may be quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), for example, andthe orthogonality parameter α_(k), as in equation (15), may be quantizedby a 1 bit quantizer, B_(α)=1.

Referring to FIG. 3, four results are illustrated in the graph. Thesignal 302 may correspond to the rate sum of a TDMA scheme with channelstate information at the transmitter (CSIT). The signal 304 maycorrespond to the rate sum of a zero-forcing (ZF), brute-force (BF)search with ideal CSIT. In accordance with an embodiment of theinvention, the signal 306 may correspond to the rate sum of a ZF andsimplified search scheme with ideal CSIT. The signal 308 may correspondto the rate sum of a ZF, improved search scheme with ideal CSIT. Thesignal 310 may correspond to the rate sum of a ZF, simplified searchscheme with 3-bits allocated for channel gain feedback (Bg=3) and 6 bitsallocated for channel directional feedback (Bv=6). The signal 312 maycorrespond to the rate sum of a ZF, improved search scheme with 3-bitsallocated for channel gain feedback (Bg=3) and 6 bits allocated forchannel directional feedback (Bv=6), and 1 bit allocated fororthogonality parameter α_(k) (B_(α)=1).

The TDMA scheme illustrated by the signal 302 may pick a single user ina round robin fashion and may only transmit to one user at a time usingmaximum ratio transmission whereas zero-forcing precoding schemes, asdescribed by the signals 304, 306, and 308, may communicate to multipleusers at a time. Therefore, the zero-forcing precoding schemes mayachieve a higher sum rate than TDMA schemes. The zero-forcing precodingwith the optimal brute-force user group selection, the signal 304, mayexhibit the best performance at the cost of high computationalcomplexity and high feedback load. In accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention, the signal 306 significantly outperforms the TDMA schemewith only very limited extra CSI feedback. It may also be noted fromFIG. 3 that allocating 3 bits for channel gain feedback, 6 bits forchannel direction feedback, and 1 bit for orthogonality parameterfeedback may be sufficient to approach the performance of ideal CSI atthe transmitter (CSIT).

In one embodiment of the invention, 3 bits may be allocated for channelgain feedback, 1 bit may be allocated for the quantized orthogonalityparameter α_(k) feedback, and 6 bits may be allocated for the orthogonalchannel direction feedback {circumflex over (v)}_(j). In this regard,the average feedback rate may be approximately 4.06 bits per user perchannel update. It may noted from the graph in FIG. 3 that the systemperformance of the improved user group selection scheme disclosed hereinwith approximately 4 bits feedback rate, may approach the performance ofa communication system with an ideal CSI at the transmitter (CSIT).Furthermore, the improved user group selection scheme disclosed hereinmay significantly improve performance in terms of either sum rate or biterror rate (BER), while utilizing a limited CSI feedback. Such CSIfeedback may be negligible when the number of users is large.

FIG. 4 is a graph that illustrates exemplary downlink transmissionschemes in terms of bit error rate, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, there are shown the resultsof a numerical simulation corresponding to the bit error rate (BER) of acellular system with a single base station and K=100 users. The basestation may be equipped with M=2 antennas, for example, and each usermay be equipped with a single antenna. The channels may be flat fadingRayleigh channels. The transmit antennas at the base station may bespaced or separated so as to experience independent fading. Themodulation format applied in this instance may be QPSK, for example.

In this instance, there are four results provided. The signal 402 maycorrespond to the BER of a TDMA scheme with CSIT. The signal 404 maycorrespond to the BER of a ZF, BF search with ideal CSIT. The signal 406may correspond to the BER of a ZF, simplified search scheme with idealCSIT. The signal 408 may correspond to the BER of a ZF, improved searchscheme with ideal CSIT. The signal 410 may correspond to the BER of aZF, simplified search scheme with B_(g)=3, B_(v)=6, and B_(α)=1. Thesignal 412 may correspond to the BER of a ZF, improved search schemewith Bg=3 and Bv=6. The results for the BER performance between thesignals 402, . . . , 412 are substantially the same as the results forthe signals 302, . . . , 312 shown for the rate sum in FIG. 3.

In comparison to the brute-force user selection algorithm, the channelstate information feedback scheme disclosed herein may significantlyreduce the computational complexity. For example, the complexity may bereduced from about K²/2 to less than 2 K (K>>2), where K may representthe number of users. The various embodiments of the invention may alsosignificantly reduce the total amount of feedback information from(K·B_(g)+K·B_(v)) bits to (K·B_(g)+K·B_(α)+2·B_(v)) bits with(B_(v)>B_(α)). Therefore, the new scheme may only require very limitedCSI feedback rate, in an order of a few bits per user, for example.

Although with a low bitrate constrained CSI feedback channel, thechannel state information feedback scheme disclosed herein may achievemultiuser diversity as well as special multiplexing when there are alarge amount of users. In accordance with an embodiment of theinvention, this simplified user group selection scheme may significantlyoutperform the TDMA scheme and achieve performance in terms of capacityclose to systems with ideal CSIT with minimal, about 3 bits per user,feedback rate. In one embodiment of the invention, the channel stateinformation feedback scheme disclosed herein may be utilized with moresophisticated precoders, such as a minimum mean square error (MMSE)precoder, THP precoder, sphere encoding precoder, for example.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readablestorage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least onecode section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine toperform the steps as described above for an improved user groupselection scheme with finite-rate channel state information feedback forfrequency division duplex (FDD) multiuser multiple-input-multiple-output(MIMO) downlink transmission.

Referring to FIG. 1B, in one embodiment of the invention, the basestation 102 b may select, from a plurality of users in a frequencydivision duplex (FDD) multiuser communication system, a first userhaving a channel gain that is greater than a feedback channel gaincorresponding to a remaining portion of the users. The base station 102b may select a second user from the remaining portion of the pluralityof users, based on a feedback channel gain of the second user andfeedback orthogonality of the second user's channel direction withrespect to that of the first user. The selected second user may have achannel gain that is greater than a feedback channel gain correspondingto the remaining portion of the plurality of users. The selected seconduser also has a channel direction that may be approximately orthogonalto that of the first user. The feedback channel gain may comprisefeedback quantized channel gain. The base station 102 b may determine aquantized channel direction of the selected first user for the selectingthe at least the second user.

The orthogonality of the channel direction of the second user may bebased on an effective received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the seconduser with respect to the broadcasted beam vector {circumflex over(v)}_(i) ^(⊥) from the base station. The base station 102 b may maximizea system capacity based on the selecting of the first user and theselecting of the second user. The base station 102 b may generate afirst precoding matrix for precoding at least one transmit signal withinthe communication system, if a system capacity function for the selectedfirst user and the selected second user is greater than a systemcapacity function for the selected first user. The first precodingmatrix may be determined from a quantized channel direction of theselected first user and a quantized channel direction of the seconduser. The base station 102 b may generate a second precoding matrix forprecoding at least one transmit signal within the communication system,if a system capacity function for the selected first user and theselected second user is not greater than a system capacity function forthe selected first user. The second precoding matrix may be determinedfrom a complex conjugate of a quantized channel direction of theselected first user.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, performed by a user equipment, tosupport user group selection in a communication system, the methodcomprising: receiving a broadcast signal comprising a beam vector from abase station; generating a first channel state information message basedon the power of the broadcast signal; transmitting the first channelstate information message to the base station; receiving a request for achannel direction in response to the first channel state informationmessage from the base station; generating a second channel stateinformation message based on quantizing the channel direction by avector quantizer with inner product quantization criterion in responseto the request; and transmitting the second channel state informationmessage to the base station.
 2. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe communication system comprises a frequency division duplex (FDD)multiuser communication system.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the communication system comprises a time division duplex (TDD)multiuser communication system.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the first channel state information message comprises a channelgain with respect to the broadcast signal.
 5. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the second channel state information message comprisesa measure of orthogonality between the broadcast signal and the beamvector.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second channelstate information message comprises a measure of orthogonality based onan effective received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the broadcastsignal with respect to the beam vector.
 7. The method according to claim1, comprising maximizing a system capacity for the communication system,based on said feedback signal.
 8. A machine-readable storage havingstored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section tosupport user group selection in a communication system, the at least onecode section being executable by a machine for causing the machine toperform a method comprising: receiving a broadcast signal comprising abeam vector from a base station; generating a first channel stateinformation message based on the power of the broadcast signal;transmitting the first channel state information message to the basestation; receiving a request for a channel direction in response to thefirst channel state information message from the base station;generating a second channel state information message based onquantizing the channel direction by a vector quantizer with innerproduct quantization criterion in response to the request; andtransmitting the second channel state information message to the basestation.
 9. The machine-readable storage according to claim 8, whereinthe communication system comprises a frequency division duplex (FDD)multiuser communication system.
 10. The machine-readable storageaccording to claim 8, wherein the communication system comprises a timedivision duplex (TDD) multiuser communication system.
 11. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 8, wherein the first channelstate information message comprises a channel gain with respect to thebroadcast signal.
 12. The machine-readable storage according to claim 8,wherein the second channel state information comprises a measure oforthogonality between the broadcast signal and the beam vector.
 13. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 8, wherein the secondchannel state information message comprises a measure of orthogonalitybased on an effective received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of thebroadcast signal with respect to the beam vector.
 14. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 8, comprising code formaximizing a system capacity for the communication system, based on saidfeedback signal.
 15. A user equipment (UE) to support user groupselection, the UE comprising: a processor configured to receive abroadcast signal comprising a beam vector from a base station, generatea first channel state information message based on the power of thebroadcast signal, transmit the first channel state information messageto the base station, receive a request for a channel direction inresponse to the first channel state information message from the basestation, generate a second channel state information based on quantizingthe channel direction by a vector quantizer with inner productquantization criterion in response to the request, and transmit thesecond channel state information message to the base station.
 16. The UEaccording to claim 15, wherein the communication system comprises afrequency division duplex (FDD) multiuser communication system.
 17. TheUE according to claim 15, wherein the communication system comprises atime division duplex (TDD) multiuser communication system.
 18. The UEaccording to claim 15, wherein the first channel state informationmessage comprises a channel gain with respect to the broadcast signal.19. The UE according to claim 15, wherein the second channel stateinformation message comprises a measure of orthogonality between thebroadcast signal and the beam vector.
 20. The UE according to claim 15,wherein the second channel state information message comprises a measureof orthogonality based on an effective received signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) of the broadcast signal with respect to the beam vector.
 21. TheUE according to claim 15, wherein said at least one processor isoperable to maximize a system capacity for the communication system,based on said feedback signal.